gabriel of zvornik**

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ИСТОРИЈСКИ ЧАСОПИС, књ. LXVIII (2019) стр. 175–194THE HISTORICAL REVIEW, vol. LXVIII (2019) pp. 175–194

UDC: 271.2(497.11)-726.1:929271.222(497.11)-772“18“

DOI: 10.34298/IC1968175R

Nedeljko V. RADOSAVLJEVIĆ*

Institute of HistoryBelgrade

GABRIEL OF ZVORNIK**

Abstract: Тhe paper deals with the biography of the Metropolitan of Zvornik Gabriel. The place and year of his birth have been determined, as well as the fact that he was a Bulgarian by ethnicity. The information about the likely social stratum that he originated from is given. The possibilities that he had at his disposal in gaining systemic theological education – from Bulgarian-Hellenic schools in the area of his origin to the theological schools of the Great Church – have been highlighted. The time of his arrival at the head of the Zvornik Metropolitanate and the period of his administration have been established. The reasons for his difficult position at the time of the First (1804–1813) and the Second Serbian Uprising (1815), the outbreak of the Greek Uprising (1821), and the rebellion of Husein Gradaščević in the Bosnian Pashalik (1831–1832) have been explained. Also underscored is his versatile activity in restoring church life and supporting education in the Serbian language. Metropolitan Gabriel enjoyed great reputation among the faithful. His authority was significant as he devotedly performed his spiritual mission. He died in 1837 and was buried in the Holy Trinity monastery (Tavna) in the Zvornik Metropolitanate.

Keywords: Metropolitan Gabriel, Ottoman Empire, Great Church, Zvornik Metropolitanate, administration, crisis, restoration.

The Zvornik Metropolitanate was one of the eparchies of the Great Church, belonging to the Patriarchate of Peć until the abolishment of its autocephaly in 1766. It was created after the Belgrade peace of 1739, out of

* [email protected]** This paper is a result of research within the project of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development: Europe and the Serbs (1804–1918): Impetuses and Temptations of European Modernism (No 177031).

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the parts of former eparchies – the Užice-Zvornik Metropolitanate and the Valjevo Bishopric, which were in their major part reorganised into the new, Užice-Valjevo Metropolitanate. The area of the Zvornik Sanjak, an Ottoman administrative unit within the Bosnian Pashalik, was in ecclesiastical terms under the administration of Užice-Valjevo metropolitans until 1767, which they emphasised in their titles.1 In 1767, a separate metropolitanate seated in the town of Zvornik was set up. It bordered the Užice-Valjevo Metropolitanate in the east, the Dabar-Bosnia Metropolitanate in west and south-west, and the eparchial structure of the Karlovac Metropolitanate, as an autonomous church in the Habsburg Monarchy, in the north. Georgios was the first metropolitan heading the Zvornik Metropolitanate. 2 He and all the following Zvornik metropolitans until the establishment of the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate in 1922 were part of the structure of the Great Church (Ecumenical Patriarchate).

The Zvornik Metropolitanate was one of smaller eparchies of the Great Church. Almost all faithful were the Serbs. Situated on the European periphery of the Ottoman Empire, small in territory and with only four important urban centres (Zvornik, Tuzla, Bijeljina, and Loznica until 1833), the Zvornik Metropolitanate did not belong to highly ranked metropolitanates. In 1847, in the “Catalogue of the Great Church”, it was classified as the third-class metropolitanate, together with the Rascia-Prizren-Skadar Metropolitanate and the Herzegovina Metropolitanate. In the same Catalogue, the neighbouring Dabar-Bosnia Metropolitanate was ranked the first-class metropolitanate.3 Somewhat later, in 1862, the Zvornik Metropolitanate was ranked the 67th in the patriarchal hierarchy.4 However, its geographical position was very important as it was situated in a vulnerable borderline area both towards the Habsburg Monarchy and the Smederevo Sanjak (Belgrade Pashalik), where the First Serbian Uprising was raised and the Serbian Revolution started, which eventually resulted in the creation of the Principality of Serbia.5

1 Н. В. Радосављевић, Ужичко-ваљевска митрополија 1739–1804, Ваљево 2000, 119–120.2 Ibidem, 124.3 Д. Анастасијевић, Кроз једну збирку новијих аката Цариградске патријаршије, Богословље VIII, 2 (1933), док. LXX, 118.4 Ibidem, LXXIV, 119.5 In 1804, the First Serbian Uprising was raised in Serbia in response to the illegal administration of the Janissary usurpers, who killed the legitimate vizier in 1801, abolished the Serbian privileges and carried out various forms of terror against the population, led by their superiors, the dahijas. With the aim to annihilate the Serbian people, who requested protection from the Sultan, the dahijas decided to decapitate the most reputable Serbian leaders. The events from late 1803 and early 1804, known

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Gabriel was the fifth metropolitan in a row from 1767, who managed the Zvornik Metropolitanate at the time of the great crisis on the European periphery of the Ottoman Empire. Due to his physical handicap with one leg, which caused him walking problems, he was dubbed “the Lame” by the faithful. This nickname followed him through his life, without any pejorative connotation. Metropolitan Gabriel was a Bulgarian, born in Sliven. As he died in 1837, aged 75 or 73, it is possible to conclude that he was born in 1762 or 1764.6 Sava Vuković states that he was “educated in Greek schools”.7 This conclusion is accurate as without the knowledge of the Greek language, he would not have progressed in church hierarchy or obtained the bishop’s title. In addition to theological reasons, there were also practical reasons, such as the correspondence with the Patriarchate in Constantinople. Besides, Gabriel probably spoke or understood Turkish. He probably gained his previous level of knowledge, which included the Slavic language, Greek language and grammar, and the basics of theology, in some of “Hellenic-Bulgarian schools”, which were specific schools existing in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Bulgarian lands, where higher quality systemic education could be obtained at the time. Such schools, located either in larger places or important spiritual centres, such as the Rila monastery, were completed by some of the most famous Bulgarian church personalities, such as Metropolitan Seraphim of Dabar-Bosnia, archimandrite Neophyte of Rila and Metropolitan Avksentiy Veleshki. The education outside Sliven, which Gabriel had to undergo in order to eventually become a metropolitan of the Great Church, suggests that his family, in social terms, belonged to a well-off merchant or artisan stratum.

There is no information on whether Gabriel was first a secular priest who later became a monk, or was tonsured in young age. However, the fact that his nephew Nicholai erected him a monument indirectly suggests that he was a monk from his early age.8 Numerous metropolitans of the time were

as “the slaughter of the knezes”, when numerous Serbian leaders, including priests, were killed, were a direct cause of the First Serbian Uprising, which grew into the first national revolution of the Balkan peoples under Ottoman rule. Rebels quickly formed the authorities and an integral territory under their effective control, placing the foundations of modern Serbian statehood. С. Гавриловић, Ка Српској револуцији, Историја српског народа IV/1, Београд 1986, 428–431. 6 М. С. Филиповић, Почеци и прошлост Зворничке епархије, Богословље VIII (XXIII) (1964) 114.7 С. Вуковић, Српски јерарси од деветог до двадесетог века, Београд–Подгорица–Крагујевац 1996, 105.8 М. С. Филиповић, op. cit., 114.

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accompanied by close relatives or nephews, whom they prepared for monastic life and further advancement in the church hierarchy.

As regards the start of his administration, the researchers studying the past of the Zvornik Metropolitanate do not agree on the year when he assumed the metropolitan throne. Đoko Slijepčević believes that Metropolitan Gabriel was mentioned in 1816 for the first time.9 Based on a preserved inscription about the restoration of the Holy Trinity monastery (Tavna), Milenko S. Filipović states that he was mentioned as the Zvornik Metropolitan for the first time in October 1814. The restoration of that monastery, completed in 1814, was ascribed to Gabriel, in a Psalter inscription.10 Filipović, however, does not exclude the possibility that Gabriel assumed the metropolitan throne even before, around 1807 or 1808, succeeding Metropolitan Eugenius, who had served for a short time as the Zvornik Metropolitan. This is also corroborated by the inscription on Gabriel’s tomb, reading that until his death in 1837, “he led the Zvornik Metropolitanate for thirty years”.11

However, although there is no doubt that the inscription is authentic, one should have reservations in the analysis of the credibility of data it contains. Its compilers did not necessarily have to be familiar with the time of start of Gabriel’s administration, all the more so as he managed the Zvornik Metropolitanate for a long time. Besides, Filipović himself states that the part of the inscription concerning the age of Metropolitan Gabriel is not entirely legible, which opens the possibility that the monument could not be read with full certainty.12 The monument was built in 1840 or later, which also increases the time distance, and the possibility of imprecise dating of some events.

There is no preserved information on when Gabriel received the bishop’s rank and whether he headed an eparchy before arriving in Zvornik. It is certain that he could not have arrived before 5 February 1808, until when Metropolitan Eugenius was still at the head of the Zvornik Metropolitanate. By the Sultan’s ferman issued on that date, recorded in the sicil of the Emperor’s Mosque in Sarajevo, he was designated the successor of the Metropolitan of Dabar-Bosnia Kalinik I, who was described in the same document as “having arrived in Constantinople for the sake of some jobs”. The same document reads that the arrival of Metropolitan Eugenius at the head of the Dabar-Bosnia Metropolitanate was approved upon the request of the Patriarch and the Holy

9 Ђ. Слијепчевић, Историја Српске православне цркве, 2, Београд 1991, 472.10 М. С. Филиповић, op. cit., 113.11 Ibidem, 113.12 Ibidem, 114.

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Synod.13 Dabar-Bosnia Metropolitan Kalinik I was already at the time absent from his metropolitanate, having become a member of the Holy Synod of the Great Church. In his absence, he was represented by the vicar bishop, the titular Metropolitan of Kratovo Venedikt Kraljević. However, soon afterwards Kraljević also left the Dabar-Bosnia Metropolitanate, after being detained by Ottoman authorities, tortured and eventually fined over suspicions that he was linked to the agitators who worked on instigating a Serbian uprising in Bosnia. In late August or early September 1807, Kraljević addressed the Habsburg border authorities, as confirmed by the report of the Petrovaradin General Command of 5 September 1807. He went to rebellious Serbia from the Habsburg Monarchy, and then appeared in Dalmatia under French rule.14 The question of the vicar bishop in the Dabar-Bosnia Metropolitanate was resolved with the ordainment of Joseph, Kalinik’s nephew, as the titular Metropolitan of Kratovo, who is mentioned in such status in 1809, which means that the administration of Metropolitan Eugenius ceased at the time, as Eugenius administered the Metropolitanate after Kraljević’s departure.15 The available sources do not contain information on whether Eugenius administered the Zvornik Metropolitanate all the time, or returned again to Zvornik in 1809, or whether he was transferred to another eparchy.

Given all the said, it is clear that the information that Metropolitan Gabriel headed the Zvornik Metropolitanate for thirty years is not correct at least by one year. He became the Metropolitan of Zvornik perhaps in 1808 or 1809, but it is also not possible to reject the possibility that Metropolitan Eugenius stayed until 1812. This question can be partially explained with a document from the grand vizier’s office, sent to Zvornik through the Sofia nazir Mehmed Reshid-efendi. It contains the order that “the Zvornik Metropolitan be appointed again, upon the request of the Serbian taifa (community)”, which was done.16 The metropolitan’s name is not stated in this document, but it is evident that the Zvornik metropolitan throne was vacated just before. The phrasing “appointed again” could relate to Metropolitan Gabriel, and not to

13 С. Кемура – В. Ћоровић, Прилози за хисторију Православне цркве у Босни и Херцеговини у XVIII и XIX стољећу, Гласник Земаљског музеја у Босни и Херцеговини 24 (1912), док. 17, 431.14 Н. В. Радосављевић, Венедикт Краљевић, прилози за биографију, Црквене студије 11 (Ниш 2015) 179–180; Ђ. Микић, Буна Јована Јанчића, Српска револуција 1804–1815. и Босна и Херцеговина, Бања Лука 2004, 223–226.15 Н. В. Радосављевић, Викарни епископи Дабробосанске митрополије, Историјски часопис 62 (2013) 180.16 Н. В. Радосављевић, М. Маринковић, Два прилога за историју Православне цркве у Босни, Мешовита грађа – Miscellanea 33 (Београд 2012), док. 1, 285–287.

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the obligation to appoint again a metropolitan in Zvornik, as old Metropolitan Eugenius either died or left.

If this document concerns Metropolitan Gabriel, it means that he could have been withdrawn from the Zvornik Metropolitanate between 1809 and 1812, and then returned again. The reason could be the intention of the Ottoman authorities to obtain from him as much information as possible about the circumstances in the Zvornik Metropolitanate, which was a strategically important area where war operations against rebellious Serbia were led. Gabriel may also have been asked to give an explanation about the Orthodox Serbs from his Metropolitanate joining the Serbian insurrectional army or – as it was done by the special patriarchal envoy Metropolitan Avksentiy, the Metropolitan of Vidin Dionisius and the Metropolitan of Kyustendil Constantine – to participate in missions aimed at calming down rebellious Serbia through negotiations and with as few concessions as possible.17 Based on available sources, it is possible to claim with certainty that in 1812 Metropolitan Gabriel was informing the Great Church about the situation in the territory of his Metropolitanate.18

During the First Serbian Uprising, the Great Church decided to appoint a Slav, instead of Greek, at the head of the Zvornik Metropolitanate, as he could familiarise himself better with the local circumstances and inform the Patriarchate thereof. As the appointment of a Serbian metropolitan was not probable due to the uprising, a Bulgarian was chosen, who was justifiably believed to be able to quickly fit into the local milieu. Metropolitan Gabriel certainly better understood the Serbian faithful thanks to the similar language and Slavic origin, and the status they shared with the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire. The Patriarchate also certainly had in mind some of his personal traits which in time were also shown in the Zvornik Metropolitanate: honesty, determination, zeal in performing his spiritual mission, supporting the educational activity, restoration of churches and monasteries.

From its restoration in 1767, the Zvornik Metropolitanate covered the area of the Zvornik Sanjak, i.e. both banks of the Drina river.19 While on its left bank it occupied the area of northeastern Bosnia, i.e. north of Vlasenica,

17 Н. В. Радосављевић, Православна црква у Београдском пашалуку 1766–1831: управа Васељенске патријаршије, Београд 2007, 108–109; Ориентална архивна колекция, Народна библиотека Св. Св. Кирил и Методий, София, 7/57.18 Н. В. Радосављевић, Православна црква у Београдском пашалуку 1766–1831: управа Васељенске патријаршије, 188.19 From 1739 to 1766 it was administered by Užice-Valjevo metropolitans, who had in their titulature the addition “and the Sanjak of Zvornik”. It was only from 1766 when the Patriarchate of Peć was merged to the Ecumenical Patriarchate that the Zvornik Metropolitanate was also administratively separated into a separate unit, headed by

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Zvornik, Majevica, Tuzla and Semberija, on the right bank it included Jadar and Rađevina.20 Given that as of 1804 battles were waged between the Serbian insurrectional and Ottoman armies, with the dividing line of the conflicting parties maintained mainly on the Drina, Metropolitan Gabriel could not perform freely his spiritual mission in the entire eparchy.

At the time of the rebels’ victories on the western border of Serbia (the Battle of Mišar in 1806 and Battle of Loznica in 1807), doubt was cast on the Serbian Orthodox population in the Bosnian Pashalik that they were helping the insurgents, joining them or preparing uprisings in Bosnia proper. The information that activities were planned even in the distant Bosnian Frontier21 came to the Ottoman authorities, and some of those movements were nipped in the bud. Limited-scope insurgent movements emerged in Herzegovina as well, which also contributed to the increasingly stricter attitude of the Ottoman authorities towards the rebellious Serbs and their compatriots in the Bosnian Pashalik. Eastern Bosnia, i.e. the area of the Zvornik Metropolitanate, also became a battlefield, with churches and monasteries destroyed in retributions of the Ottoman army. The order of the grand vizier of 12 July 1807, sent to serasker Hurshid Pasha after the loss of Belgrade and Užice that year, testifies to the plans of the military annihilation of the population of rebellious Serbia, which incorporated parts of the Zvornik Metropolitanate as well. The order literally reads as follows: “It is obvious that the duty requires that the Serbs be made the Sultan’s rayah through the force and strength of the Ottoman Empire. On our part, we have written special letters to his excellence Hurshid Pasha, the Rumeli vali and the chief commander in the Serbian matter. It is possible that the question of the Metropolitan’s departure and return will be very soon peacefully resolved by the Serbian party in the capital. However, the matter is not mitigated with such opinion. In accordance with the earlier issued honourable fetva about the said congregation, it has been written that all efforts be invested to destroy and obliterate them, to have their property plundered, to have them captured and have their women and children taken in captivity.“22 The ultimate aim of the establishment of full control over the rebellious territories by the Ottoman Empire was the same throughout the

its metropolitan. Н. В. Радосављевић, Ужичко-ваљевска митрополија 1739–1804, Ваљево 2000, 125.20 Jadar and Rađevina, areas in the vicinity of the towns of Loznica, in the present-day Republic of Serbia.21 Western part of the Bosnian Pashalik.22 The metropolitan mentioned in the order was Kyustendil Bishop Constantine. Н. В. Радосављевић, Једна османска наредба о војном уништењу Србије из 1807. године, Истраживања 23 (Нови Сад 2012) 288–290.

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uprising, regardless of negotiation activities, while the extreme measures aimed at quelling the uprising were probably also known to metropolitans in this area, including Metropolitan Gabriel.

In 1813, the Serbian insurrectional state was militarily defeated and a significant number of its inhabitants, including the bulk of insurrectional leaders, fled to the Habsburg Monarchy. The remaining inhabitants, who did not fall into captivity or did not perish in the war, were exposed to the plague epidemics which flared up upon the Ottoman conquest of Belgrade, latently persisting through an almost entire decade. After the rebels were crushed, the old Ottoman administration structure was established. The situation was similar with the eparchial structure of the Great Church, which, though not formally, was jeopardised fundamentally since it played no greater importance in rebellious Serbia.23

Soon after the situation calmed, in still difficult conditions, Metropolitan Gabriel instigated the restoration of burnt and damaged churches, and the religious life in the Zvornik Metropolitanate. He did a lot. Owing to his effort, the Holy Trinity monastery (Tavna) was restored in 1814, followed by the monastery of the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple (Tronoša) which, although the war ended in 1813, was burnt again in March 1814. The thorough restoration of the church of the Tronoša monastery was completed only in 1834.24 As stated by Milenko S. Filipović, one of Metropolitan Gabriel’s greatest successes was the construction of the new church of St John the Forerunner in Zvornik in 1823.25 Ljiljana Ševo believes that the Zvornik church was erected between 1817 and 1821, and consecrated by Metropolitan Gabriel in 1823.26 However, given that this was the time before the Tanzimat reforms, when the construction of new churches was rare, this was probably thorough restoration, including perhaps the extension of the church in Zvornik which had existed before, rather than the construction of a new temple. This is also indicated by some church vessels originating from the second half of the 18th century.

Gabriel of Zvornik faced a complex situation also at the time of the outbreak of the Second Serbian Uprising in 1815, although no significant 23 Н. В. Радосављевић, Православна црква у Београдском пашалуку 1766–1831 : управа Васељенске патријаршије, Београд 2007, 129–130. 24 М. С. Филиповић, op. cit., 114. Metropolitan Gabriel still headed the Zvornik Metropolitanate, but this area had already become a part of the Principality of Serbia, and thus its autonomous Orthodox Church, i.e. its Šabac Bishopric.25 М. С. Филиповић, op. cit., 114.26 Љ. Шево, Православне цркве и манастири у Босни и Херцеговини до 1878. године, Бања Лука 2002, 113–114.

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military operations were carried out in his Metropolitanate. Such complex situation was caused by the neighbouring Metropolitan of Užice-Valjevo Danilo II, who assumed the Užice-Valjevo bishopric throne in 1814. The dissatisfaction with his behaviour among the faithful was considerable. Danilo II was known as “deli-papaz” and “alauk” (an insane, manic priest), which were the nicknames given to him by the Turks. Among other things, he requested from the faithful who were after the collapse of the First Serbian Uprising hit by hunger and illnesses, to pay the taxes overdue even from 1804. When the Second Serbian Uprising broke out in 1815, he joined Ottoman soldiers in the Valjevo garrison, wherefrom he managed to go towards Zvornik with his scribe and two associates.27 It cannot be seen from available sources how Metropolitan Gabriel treated him during his short stay in the town. However, based on Danilo’s demonstrated loyalty towards the Ottoman authorities, it can be assumed that Metropolitan Gabriel received him and was his host. Danilo II left Zvornik soon afterwards. 28

At the time of Metropolitan Gabriel, the educational activity in the Zvornik Metropolitanate began to revive. Schools in Zvornik, Tuzla, Lokanj and other places were active. The teacher in Zvornik, Živko Marković, who also dealt with the copying activity, was mentioned in 1816. He copied the “Divine Orders”, noting he did it “in the Zvornik school, at the time of Metropolitan Gabriel of Zvornik and Gradac”. This inscription also contains important information that it was “opportune time”, i.e. that peace reigned, which facilitated the restoration of church and educational life.29 In 1816, the

27 Ibidem, 192.28 Later, due to abuses and deceptions during the election to the metropolitan rank and his bad relations with the faithful, the Great Church punished Metropolitan Danilo II with strict banishment to the Meteora monastery, where he stayed in the status of an ordinary monk, with the prohibition to take communion until he sincerely repented. In 1821, he was pardoned and appointed the Metropolitan of Niš. Given that his predecessor, the Metropolitan of Niš Meletije, was hanged just before that, under the accusation that he supported Greek uprisings, the arrival of the former Metropolitan of Užice-Valjevo Danilo in his place can also be observed as a forced gesture of the appointment of a man loyal to the Ottoman authorities at the head of an important metropolitanate. Хр. Караманджуковъ, Oбщъ прѣгледъ на борбите въ Моравско за освобождение : Празника на моравскитѣ апостоли, София 1918, 9; Н. В. Радосављевић, Православна црква у Београдском пашалуку 1766–1831 : управа Васељенске патријаршије, 192.29 “Сеи заповеди божествение преписа во училиште јуности зворничкој и окрестним странам Живко учитељ зовоми Марковић и наставник јуности при митрополиту Гаврилу Зворничком и Градачком, и прочаја. Соверши си у Зворнику

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same teacher bought an Apostolos for 20 groschen.30 The Apostolos, printed in 1785 in Vienna was most probably one of many liturgical books plundered, upon the collapse of Serbia in 1813, by Ottoman soldiers during their looting of churches and monasteries. Ottoman soldiers later sold them to Orthodox Christians in the Bosnian Pashalik, who thereby saved them from destruction and gave them to their local churches and monasteries.31

New problems arose for Metropolitan Gabriel of Zvornik in 1821. That was the time of the outbreak of the Greek Uprising, with which the faithful in his eparchy were in no way related. The Greek Uprising, raised on the Peloponnese, was related to one of the metropolitans of the Great Church, the Metropolitan of Patras Paul Germanos, who unfurled the Greek rebel flag. Because of him and several other bishops, as well as the local clergy who supported the uprising, retribution against the Greeks took place in Constantinople. The most momentous event was the hanging of Patriarch Georgios V on the doors of the Patriarchate in Phanar. Several metropolitans from the areas where the uprising broke out were punished with capital punishment.32 The Greek patricians from Constantinople and Asia Minor did not have the main role in staging the uprising. The Patriarch himself did not play any direct role either. Still, the entire church structure was suspicious to the Ottoman authorities, including the eparchies in the areas inhabited by the Serbs, whose history of uprisings was well-known to the authorities in Constantinople. Cautious over the unpredictable behaviour of the Belgrade Ottoman garrison, the Serbian authorities in the Smederevo Sanjak (Belgrade Pashalik) also issued an order on the temporary removal of valuables from churches and monasteries, primarily the Belgrade church, while Belgrade Metropolitan Agathangelus, a Greek by origin, was interrogated by the local vizier.33 The Metropolitan of Niš Meletije

месеца јули 31. лета от Рождества 1819, погодно време бист.“ Љ. Стојановић, Стари српски записи и натписи, 3, Београд 1905, inscription 5921, 221.30 Ibidem, inscription 5922, 221. 31 The fact that the inscription states that teacher Živko Marković “repurchased” the book, and did not purchase it, for the high price of 20 groschen, suggests that it was the prey brought by Ottoman soldiers from reoccupied Serbia. For more information about the repurchase of books plundered from church and monastery treasuries see: Ј. Н. Радосављевић, Богослужбена књига, даривање и откуп у српским земљама под османском влашћу (1788–1830), Српске студије 6 (2015) 163–180. 32 И. Ортајли, Најдужи век империје, Београд 2004, 47; St. Runciman, The Great Church in Captivity, Cambridge 1968, 383–384.33 Тутори београдске цркве кнезу Милошу Обреновићу, АС, КК II, Народна канцеларија, док. 336. Н. В. Радосављевић, Православна црква у Београдском пашалуку 1766–1831 : управа Васељенске патријаршије, 139.

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was hanged in the same 1821 year.34 Of four metropolitans in the Belgrade Pashalik, three were incarcerated. On 21 June (2 July) 1821, Stefan Jovanović, one of Užice knezes, informed Prince Mihailo Obrenović that the Bosnian vizier had arrested the metropolitans of Zvornik, Sarajevo and Herzegovina, and had released them several days later.35 Based on this letter, it is possible to conclude with certainty that Metropolitan Gabriel of Zvornik was arrested with the other two metropolitans (of Dabar-Bosnia and Herzegovina), regardless of the fact that no events in his Metropolitanate could have raised suspicions of the Ottoman authorities, particularly not in relation to the Greek Uprising, which was geographically far away and whose objectives were unrealistic for the Serbs. The fact that Metropolitan Gabriel was a Bulgarian and not a Greek was not important in making the decision on his interrogation. All metropolitans and bishops of the Great Church were suspicious at the time. Even the Metropolitan of Rascia-Prizren-Skadar Zaharija, a Serb by ethnicity, was arrested together with protosyngelos Kalinik in 1821, and held in a Prizren prison for around a year, while several monks of the Visoki Dečani monastery were killed.36

By ordaining priest candidates immediately after the Second Serbian Uprising, Metropolitan Gabriel aimed to establish regular church organisation and compensate for the insufficient number of priests and monks. This particularly concerns the area affected by military operations. Already on 21 November (3 December) 1816, he ordained Meletije Filipović as a hieromonk in the Tronoša monastery.37 Judging by the census of a part of the Zvornik Metropolitanate on the right bank of the Drina, which became a part of the autonomous Orthodox Church in the Principality of Serbia in 183438, this process was on-going. After being released from the Travnik prison, on 24 October (5 November) 1821, Metropolitan Gabriel ordained priest Petar

34 Хр. Караманджуковъ, op. cit., 9.35 Н. В. Радосављевић, Књажеска канцеларија, Ужичка нахија, књига прва, (1816–1830), Ужице–Београд 2005, док. 101, 99. 36 Д. Батаковић, Дечанско питање, Београд 20072, 13–14; Н. В. Радосављевић, Црквене прилике у Старој Србији од укидања Пећке патријаршије до Велике источне кризе, Историја и значај Призренске богословије, Ниш 2013, 15–16. 37 Н. В. Радосављевић, Шабачка епископија по Попису из 1836, Гласник. Историјски архив Ваљево 34 (2000) 73. 38 The Orthodox Church in the Principality of Serbia was an autonomous church established by the Tomos of 1831. It was headed by the Archbishop of Belgrade and Metropolitan of Serbia. It had its own Holy Synod and internal autonomy, but was an inseparable part of the Great Church in canonical terms. Н. В. Радосављевић, Aутономија православне цркве у Кнежевини Србији и арондација епископија 1831–1836, Истраживања 25 (Нови Сад 2014) 237–239.

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Stefanović from the Grnčara village in the Holy Trinity monastery (Tavna).39 In 1822, he carried out two more ordainments in the Tronoša monastery.40 He made ordainments not only in these monasteries, but also in the town of Zvornik, where the metropolitan residence was located. According to the census of the Šabac Bishopric of 1836, in two protopresbyterates from Jadar and Rađevina, which belonged to the Zvornik Metropolitanate until 1834, there were fifteen of total twenty eight priests and hieromonks who were ordained by Metropolitan Gabriel, or 54.57% of the total. These ordainments were carried out from 16 (28) March 1816 to 12 (24) December 1828.41 Their considerable number in this research sample suggests the restoration of church life in the area exposed to military operations for years. Based on this, we can assume that Gabriel acted in a similar manner also in the areas covered by the Zvornik Metropolitanate on the left bank of the Drina (Bosnia), which was a significantly greater region.

After the Russo-Turkish War ended with the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 and the autonomous Principality of Serbia was established in 1830, the Zvornik Metropolitanate was on its western border. It then became certain that the area on the western bank of the Drina (Jadar and Rađevina) would be taken out from it and joined to the Principality of Serbia.42 As the Porte procrastinated with resolving the issue of ceding the six nahiyes to the Principality of Serbia, this was done in 1833 through the local uprisings of the Christian population and the action of the Serbian Prince’s army. This could not be interpreted as a casus belli as it was grounded in the Hatt-i sharif of 1830 about the establishment of the Principality of Serbia. The Ottoman Empire was in a difficult situation, which was used by Serbian Prince Miloš to achieve one of the primary objectives in attaining full-fledged Serbian statehood.43

39 Н. В. Радосављевић, Шабачка епископија по Попису из 1836, 74.40 He ordained hieromonk Nikifor H. Jovanović, a later hegumen of the monastery, on 30 January (11 February), and Nikifor Marković, also a hieromonk of Tronoša, on 26 July (7 August) of the same year. Ibidem, 73. 41 Ibidem, 73–75.42 The area outside the Smederevo Sanjak (Belgrade Pashalik), incorporated in the insurrectional Serbian state (1804–1813). Under the Treaty of Adrianople between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, it was to be added to the new, autonomous Serbian state, with its core in the Smederevo Sanjak. This was confirmed by the Hatt-i sharif of Sultan Mahmud II from 1830 about the establishment of the Principality of Serbia. The area covered six nahiyes which had belonged to different sanjaks (of Vidin, Kruševac, Bosnia, Zvornik). See: Р. Љушић, Кнежевина Србија 1830–1839, Београд 2004, 23–41. 43 With its new Hatt-i sharif of 1833, the Porte approved the enlargement of the Principality of Serbia with the six nahiyes, whereby its territory was enlarged by one

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In 1834, this area was gradually included within the autonomous Orthodox Church in the Principality of Serbia, which was rounded off with the new canonical letter of the Great Church in 1836.44 The events from 1833–1834 quite clearly show that the Great Church was prepared for them. Serbian Prince Miloš Obrenović allowed the metropolitans whose parts of eparchies were joined to the Principality of Serbia to collect metropolitan revenues in them during 1834 as well, and the Great Church advised them to agree with him about everything concerning the areas merged to the Principality.45 On 20 February (4 March) 1834, the Metropolitan of Rascia-Prizren-Skadar Ananias attended the taking of the oath of fidelity of inhabitants of the part of the Stari Vlah nayhie to Serbian Prince Miloš Obrenović, which he should not have done without the consent of the Patriarchate or Ottoman authorities.46 As the Principality of Serbia was de jure still a part of the Ottoman Empire and its Prince was also bound with an oath to the Sultan, the action of Metropolitan Ananias could not be observed as an infringement. Serbian sources do not contain information that Metropolitan Gabriel of Zvornik acted in a similar way in regard to giving an oath to Prince Miloš by the people’s representatives of Jadar and Rađevina, which were a part of the Zvornik Sanjak up to then. However, Prince Miloš showed good will both towards him and the metropolitans of Rascia-Prizren-Ohrid, Niš and Vidin, by allowing them to collect without impediments all metropolitan and patriarchate revenues for 1833.47

The turmoil on the European periphery of the Ottoman Empire caused new problems to Metropolitan Gabriel. Though ethnically Serbian, the Muslim conservative beylik in the Bosnian Pashalik was devoted to the Ottoman state idea, reacting to the reform measures of the central authorities and geopolitical changes. The dissatisfaction of the Bosnian beylik appeared back in 1827, when the new Bosnian vizier began, from Zvornik, to crush the resistance of local Muslim leaders, and the rest of the Janissaries, whose corps were disbanded in the capital a year before. Up until 1832, the Bosnian Pashalik was the stronghold of anti-reform forces which clashed directly with the central

third. В. Стојанчевић, Српска национална револуција и обнова државе од краја XVIII века до 1839, Историја српског народа V/1, Београд 1981, 123–124.44 Н. В. Радосављевић, Aутономија православне цркве у Кнежевини Србији и арондација епископија 1831–1836, 246.45 Н. В. Радосављевић, Православна црква у Београдском пашалуку 1766–1831 : управа Васељенске патријаршије, 191.46 Н. В. Радосављевић, Kњажеска канцеларија, Ужичка нахија (1831–1839), књига друга, документи, Београд–Ужице 2006, док. 504, 176–182.47 Н. В. Радосављевић, Aутономија православне цркве у Кнежевини Србији и арондација епископија 1831–1836, 244–245.

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authorities. This certainly aggravated Gabriel’s position which, in line with the attitude of the Great Church, showed full loyalty to the legitimate state authorities, as otherwise he would have brought into question the position of the Patriarchate. The Treaty of Adrianople of 1829 and the Hatt-i sharif of 1830 on the establishment of the Principality of Serbia brought new uncertainties among the conservative Muslim population, which contributed to their increasing mistrust towards the Orthodox Serbs.

The armed rebellion of Husein Gradaščević from 1831–1832, which soon spread across almost the entire Bosnian Pashalik, jeopardised not only the position of its Orthodox metropolitans, but also posed direct peril to their lives given their devotion to the central authorities. In his letter of 17 (29) April 1832, the local k*nez of Užice Jovan Mićić wrote to Prince Miloš Obrenović that Husein Gradaščević, who proclaimed himself a Bosnian vizier, launched a campaign to the part of Herzegovina around the town of Stolac, which he still did not control. Mićić wrote that Gradaščević had arrested three Orthodox metropolitans (in the original: srpske vladike – Serbian bishops), from whom he extorted 120 bags of money and took them hostage. This was a much more difficult situation for them than short-term arrests and interrogations at the time of the outbreak of the Greek Uprising in 1821. The sum of money taken from them was very high for such circumstances. The bag of money was an exactly defined monetary unit of measurement and contained 500 Ottoman silver akçe. One hundred and twenty bags equalled 60,000.00 silver akçe. The comparison with other amounts further confirms that they were heavily fined by Gradaščević. In 1834, Prince Miloš Obrenović bought for 25 bags an estate, which included a watermill, which was highly profitable at the time, in the area of Ključ (present-day eastern Serbia). Under the Constitution of the Principality of Serbia of 1838, total 4,000 bags of money were earmarked from the government budget for the needs of the Prince’s court.48 The population of the metropolitanates in the Bosnian Pashalik could not quickly collect this amount, as they were overindebted. This was why the arrested metropolitans found it extremely hard to pay out this amount, but they succeeded, perhaps even by making unfavourable loans.

As Mićić’s letter does not contain the names of the metropolitans arrested by Husein Gradaščević, the question is asked who they were. The Metropolitan of Rascia-Prizren-Skadar Ananias was out of reach of Gradaščević’s troops. The Metropolitan of Herzegovina Joseph, who resided in Mostar, also had sufficient time to flee. If he had managed to move in time to the area under

48 М. Влајинац, Речник наших старих мера у току векова, књига 3, Београд 1968, 402.

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the control of the central authorities, it is possible to conclude with certainty that Metropolitan Veniamin of Dabar-Bosnia (Sarajevo) and Metropolitan of Zvornik Gabriel were in Gradaščević’s captivity. The third arrested could be the Vicar Bishop of the Dabar-Bosnia Metropolitan, the Metropolitan of Kratovo Gregorios.49

From his appointment to the throne of Zvornik metropolitans, the life of Metropolitan Gabriel was jeopardised on several occasions – from the outbreak of the First Serbian Uprising in 1804 until the end of the Second Serbian Uprising in 1815, as well as later, at the time of the start of the Greek Uprising in 1821 and turmoil in the Bosnian Pashalik from 1827 to 1832. The hitherto works whose authors examined his biography elaborate on the attempts at his murder. Dušan Tešić and Jakov Popović, in one of their treatises on the Zvornik Metropolitanate state that “the Turks persecuted him on one occasion”, when he was saved by an Orthodox Christian, who practically carried him to a safe place since he moved slowly and with difficulty.50 Milenko S. Filipović and Sava Vuković accept their opinion.51 These works, however, do not mention when this event happened. As the most difficult period for him after the First Serbian Uprising was from 1827 to 1832, this most probably happened before Gradaščević arrested him in 1832. The fact that he was old further aggravated his movement, in addition to his physical handicap. This is another reason why it can be assumed that the event took place either in 1830, when the central authorities were fully crashed in the Bosnian Pashalik, or before his arrest in 1832. The chase after him, which he managed to escape at a moment, could also serve the purpose of his arrest.

After Gradaščević’s rebellion failed in 1832, Metropolitan Gabriel continued to manage the metropolitanate assigned to him in more stable conditions. In 1833, the geopolitical situation changed and a part of the Zvornik Sanjak, and thus of the Zvornik Metropolitanate, was merged to the Principality of Serbia. In 1834, the borders of the Zvornik Metropolitanate were reduced to the territory it occupied in Bosnia at the time, on the left bank of the Drina. Gabriel “the Lame”, the Metropolitan of Zvornik, died in the Holy Trinity monastery (Tavna) on the slopes of the Majevica mountain, between Bijeljina, Ugljevik and Zvornik. Milenko S. Filipović believes that he, already gravely ill, withdrew from Zvornik to this monastery. He was also personally connected

49 Н. В. Радосављевић, Викарни епископи Дабробосанске митрополије (1766–-1878), Историјски часопис 62 (2013) 161–192.50 Д. Тешић – Ј. Поповић, Зворничка епархија и њени митрополити, Дабробосански источник за1890, Сарајево 1890, 117–119.51 М. С. Филиповић, op. cit., 113.

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to Tavna as he organised and led its thorough restoration in 1814, only a year after the collapse of the Serbian insurrectional state and the cessation of war operations in this area.52 The insufficiently legible inscription in his tomb contains the following words: “his grateful nephew Nicholai set up this tomb in 184[...]“.53 This text in Serbian contains the only mention of his close relative, nephew Nicholai. As the tomb was erected in 1840 or later, at least three years after Gabriel’s death, it can be concluded that his nephew Nicholai most probably remained to live in Zvornik or in one of the monasteries of the Zvornik Metropolitanate, i.e. did not return to their native area of Sliven or go to another area in the Ottoman Empire. Given the conditions in which the Zvornik Metropolitanate existed in the first three decades of the 19th century, Đoko Slijepčević’s conclusion that it had a very well organised church and educational life gains in even more importance. The most meritorious was Metropolitan Gabriel, who managed to preserve order in the Metropolitanate despite complex and difficult circumstances.

52 The year has not been read with full certainty. Milenko S. Filipović leaves both possibilities equally open. М. С. Филиповић, op. cit., 114. 53 Ibidem.

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Радосављевић Н. В., Kњажеска канцеларија, Ужичка нахија (1831–1839), књига друга, документи, Београд–Ужице 2006. [Radosavljević N. V., Knjažeska kancelarija, Užička nahija (1831–1839), knjiga druga, dokumenti, Beograd–Užice 2006]

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Вуковић С., Српски јерарси од деветог до двадесетог века, Београд–Подгорица–Крагујевац 1996. [Vuković S., Srpski jerarsi od devetog do dvadesetog veka, Beograd–Podgorica–Kragujevac 1996]

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Караманджуковъ Хр., Oбщъ прѣгледъ на борбите въ Моравско за освобождение : Празника на моравскитѣ апостоли, София 1918. [Karamandjukov Hr., Obsht pregled na borbite v Moravsko za osvobozhdenie : Praznika na moravskite apostoli, Sofia 1918]

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Микић Ђ., Буна Јована Јанчића, Српска револуција 1804–1815. и Босна и Херцеговина, Бања Лука 2004, 219–238. [Mikić Đ., Buna Jovana Jančića, Srpska revolucija 1804–1815 i Bosna i Hercegovina, Banja Luka 2004, 219–238]

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Радосављевић Ј. Н., Богослужбена књига, даривање и откуп у српским земљама под османском влашћу (1788–1830), Српске студије 6 (2015) 163–180. [Radosavljević J. N., Bogoslužbena knjiga, darivanje i otkup u srpskim zemljama pod osmanskom vlašću (1788–1830), Srpske studije 6 (2015) 163–180]

Радосављевић Н. В., Ужичко-ваљевска митрополија 1739–1804, Ваљево 2000. [Radosavljević N. V., Užičko-valjevska mitropolija 1739–1804, Valjevo 2000]

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Радосављевић Н. В., Aутономија православне цркве у Кнежевини Србији и арондација епископија 1831–1836, Истраживања 25 (2014) 233–248. [Radosavljević N. V., Autonomija pravoslavne crkve u Kneževini Srbiji i arondacija episkopija 1831–1836, Istraživanja 25 (2014) 233–248]

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Филиповић М. С., Почеци и прошлост Зворничке епархије, Богословље VIII (XXIII) (1964) 49–133. [Filipović M. S., Počeci i prošlost Zvorničke eparhije, Bogoslovlje VIII (XXIII) (1964) 49–133]

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194


Недељко В. РАДОСАВЉЕВИЋ

ГАВРИЛО ЗВОРНИЧКИ

Резиме

Митрополит Гаврило рођен је у Сливену 1762. или 1764. По народности је био Бугарин. Образовање је стицао прво на црквено-словенском, а потом на грчком језику, у нeким од манастира и теолошких школа Велике цркве. То му је касније омогућило напредовање у црквеној јерархији. Поред грчког, говорио је и турски језик, а српски је брзо савладао по доласку на чело Зворничке митрополије. На зворнички митрополитски трон ступио је после 5. фебруара 1808, у време када је већ трајао Први српски устанак. Пре његовог доласка, као и после тога, ратне операције одвијале су се и на подручју Зворничке митрополије. Митрополит Гаврило старао се да у тим временима заштити вернике, док је Великој цркви слао извештаје о актуелним догађајима. Такође је учествовао и у преговарачким активностима у циљу окончања борби. По слому Првог српског устанка 1813. активно је радио на обнови порушених и оштећених цркава и манастира. Његовом заслугом су већ 1814. обновљени манастири Тавна и Троноша, док је 1823. завршена обнова цркве у Зворнику. Поред тога, подржавао је просветну делатност и отварање школа, а старао се и о обнови монашког живота. У време избијања Грчког устанка 1821, ухапшен је и ислеђиван, али је брзо пуштен на слободу. Током 1832, у време побуне Хусеина Градашчевића у Босанском пашалуку, ухапшен је од његових нелегалних формација. Из затвора је пуштен тек пошто је платио високу суму новца. Услед нередовних прилика живот му је у више наврата био угрожен, али је све време и поред тога предано вршио своју духовну мисију. Умро је 1837. Сахрањен је у манастиру Тавна.

Кључне речи: митрополит Гаврило, Османско царство, Велика црква, Зворничка митрополија, управа, криза, рестаурација.

Чланак примљен: 29. 03. 2019.Чланак коначно прихваћен за објављивање: 29. 08. 2019.

gabriel of zvornik**

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